Psycho
by Alpha Three
Summary: Violent. Dangerous. Psychopath. Vienna has lived with these labels for a while, but when the Aquarius Project comes to reclaim her, HIVE is the only place to go. And at HIVE, like everywhere else, labels change and people die. Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

Violent. Dangerous. Psycho. Schizoid. Vienna Black was used to living with these labels. For nearly ten years, she had been held in an asylum. Originally it had been a prison, but when she said that she had been trained in "villainy studies", she had been brought to the place with white walls. It was schizophrenia, they had said. She had hallucinated it all, and found the jumpsuit at a costume store. The battles had all happened in her head.

It was a sign of paranoid schizophrenia – thinking that people were after her. But they were. The Aquarius Project did not end when an overly bright villain deleted all of the data and helped the subjects flee. They went underground instead, starting their work all over again from the ground up. The Project was keen on hunting down their escaped subjects, and would stop at nothing to get them back. There were still tests to be done, after all.

Thirteen subjects were still out of the Aquarius Project's reach. All of them were going to be difficult to find. They had no official records anywhere in the world, and they were the best in the business when it came to crime and the evasion of authorities. The Project's leader, known only as the Director, had already covertly canvassed the best villainy schools on the planet. Their subjects were not found there, and the rare blips on their radar turned out to be nothing.

Vienna had just reached her hundred and fiftieth push-up when someone knocked at her door. She opened it mechanically, a round nurse smiling as she pushed in a cart laden with medicines. She handed over a cup of pills and a bottle of water. "Seeing any more ninjas?" the nurse asked.

Vienna swallowed, opened her mouth to show that she wasn't hiding the pills, and at the nurse's nod, answered, "No, ma'am."

"Very good. Lights out in five minutes," the nurse told her, pushing the cart out of the room and closing the door. Vienna waited a few seconds, took the pills out from under her tongue, and crushed them beneath her shoe. She dropped down to do another push-up, blowing the dust from her anti-hallucinogens away. A soft knock came a few minutes later, the sign that the nurses wanted her to go to bed. She shut off the lights, opened the blinds, and continued exercising. She had no time to waste if she wanted to be in shape for her escape. Getting out of here was going to be no easy feat, but she could do it. She had been trained for this sort of thing.

Nearly an hour later, she was just beginning to yawn, looking out the window at the sliver of silver that constituted the moon. Two days and she would be out of there. Once the moon was fully dark, she could get out unnoticed for nearly four hours. By that time, she hoped to be crossing the ocean to find an old acquaintance. If she was right, as she often was, he was still hiding out on the same island. Interpol hadn't managed to find him in all of those years since the end of the project. Vienna hoped that she would find him before Aquarius found her. There was no way she was going back to their training programs. Her missions were her own. She was no hired mercenary.

She turned away from the window, opening the panel in the wall to go through her backpack of supplies one more time. She had managed to steal almost everything she would need, including whole rolls of cash filched from the doctors' pockets. Really, some of the people in this place were professional pickpockets. Why weren't the doctors more careful with their money? She smiled a cunning smile, knowing that once she was gone, Aquarius would probably turn the place over looking for her. She was always three steps ahead of them, but with her little sojourn in the asylum, she was only two. As she replaced the panel, making sure that it looked just like the surrounding wall, an explosion resounded from the West Wing. The building plunged into a full lockdown, complete with flood lights.

_Great_, she thought, grabbing her backpack and climbing into the ductwork and forever leaving Room 49. _They're here already. _

* * *

**A.N.: Please let me know what you think so far! It'll be getting more HIVE-y in a chapter or so.**


	2. Chapter 2

By the time the Aquarius agents had reached Vienna's room, she was well on her way to another hideout. She checked the phone that she had swiped from the nurses' station earlier that evening – she had been gone for ten minutes and was nearly in the middle of the forest that surrounded the compound. She typed some coordinates into the phone's GPS feature, and they came back: _**location not found. **_Sure that they were correct, she typed them in again. _**This**_ _**location does not exist.**_ She gave it one more try, this time seeing an emblem and receiving a warning on no uncertain terms: _**This location does not officially exist. Forces will come to intercept you if you try to locate these coordinates again.**_ Perfect. This was where she was going, and he was still there.

The Aquarius team ransacked the entire asylum, finding nothing. Jade, the tech specialist on the team, logged into the computer system while her accomplices, held the doctors and nurses who were nearby at gunpoint. "Vienna Black. Paranoid schizophrenic, hallucinations of villainy training and people being after her. Committed nearly ten years ago. This is definitely her. East Wing, Room 49. I want this place torn up. We need these subjects, dead or alive. Tear down the whole building if you have to!"

Vienna typed in the coordinates one more time, and a holographic face appeared on the phone's screen, talking to her as she ran through the woods, ducking into the shadows of a subway station when the woods finally cleared. "Hello. How can I help you?" the blue face asked.

"I'm Vienna Black. I believe your master knows who I am."

"I am sorry, but you have attempted to enter coordinates for a secret location possessed by an international organization one too many times. It will be easier for you I you remain in the same location while we come to you for information processing. Thank you." The face blinked out, turning the screen black and leaving the phone dead. Vienna had feared this would happen. She left the phone in the subway station, taking to the back alleys of the city instead.

She looked up, thinking that she had heard something. There was nothing there besides a clothesline. Curious. She could have sworn there was a hovercraft above her. She ducked into a bar to avoid anything that could have been lying above her, be it a drone or some sort of more complicated surveillance apparatus. The bar was louder than it needed to be, and drunken people were practically on top of each other. She did notice, however, that there were a few people around the room who appeared to be alert and sober. _Too_ alert. They all wore black… curious. Shaking her head, she ducked into the alley behind the bar, sidestepping a man puking behind a Dumpster.

"Hold it right there," said a voice. A woman in a black jumpsuit stepped out of the shadows. A jagged scar ran down the side of her face. "I would recommend that you don't move. You're surrounded, and I don't think fighting me will be too good for your health."


	3. Chapter 3

Vienna swore, looking around her. There were at least ten black-clad agents around her, not counting the woman who had just drawn a katana sword that glowed with purple electricity. She nodded, raising her hands in surrender and approaching the woman, who did not lower her weapon. When she got very close, not even a meter away, she said meekly, "I know I'm no match for all of you. If you'd like, you can let me go and I will never bother you again, or you can take me to your leader."

"There is no way we're letting you go," said Raven. "Men, handcuff her and get her onto the Shroud. We need to bring her in."

"You know, I don't think I like that attitude," Vienna grinned, swiping an elbow backwards and taking out the two men that had approached her from behind. Raven got her into a chokehold, but she had flipped Raven over in the blink of an eye. The remaining agents approached somewhat hesitantly. Although they had the numbers and muscle mass against her, Vienna obviously made up for that in skill. "Okay, now that I've had a bit of fun, I really would like to see your leader." She walked up to the Shroud on her own, as if she had known all along where they had parked the invisible vehicle. "Are you all coming, or am I driving there on my own?"

Astonished, Raven followed. As soon as she had Vienna properly secured, she called in to HIVE. "Colonel, I've got the person who raised the alarm on our system. She's a lot more dangerous than we thought at first, and she was willing to take on our team when she suddenly decided to come quietly. No, I really mean it when I say she _decided_. I honestly think she would have finished all of us off if she had wanted to. Tell the doctor to expect us in an hour, two at the very latest. He will definitely want to talk to her."

"I'm not talking unless I want to!" Vienna yelled from near the front of the Shroud.

"See? She doesn't seem to be very willing to follow any sort of rules. Please be prepared for a bit of a struggle," Raven said, "We'll see you soon, if she doesn't decide to hijack the Shroud."

The trip to HIVE was relatively uneventful. Vienna ended up falling asleep with Raven sitting across from her with her katanas bared. Raven was on edge for the whole flight, not trusting that her captive had really fallen asleep. She was sure that the girl was plotting something behind her closed eyelids. When she finally believed that Vienna was asleep, she took out her Blackbox, scanning Vienna's fingerprint and finding no matches in any systems, global or underground. This was impossible. She had captured someone that did not exist, even on the clandestine level that HIVE operated on.

They reached HIVE a bit later, early in the morning. Raven and a phalanx of guards escorted a surly Vienna up to the headmaster's office, where they deposited her in a chair. "Ooh, an office. Is this what you wanted to bring me here for? You could have just brought me to the nearest office supply store. The whole dragging-me-here-in-handcuffs thing was a bit overdramatized just for this." she said.

"No," came a voice from behind her. She would have turned around if she was not tied to the chair. A figure walked over to the desk and took a seat opposite her. Vienna halfway smiled. The man had gotten older, his black hair starting to show a bit of gray at the temples, but the sharp gray eyes were still the same. "You seem to have known our location. Why is that?" he asked in a very familiar voice, appraising the girl. Something about her made him think that he had seen her before. The hair, that was it. Liquid fire, he had called it once. His eyes widened in realization as she said, "Max. Good to see you again."


	4. Chapter 4

"You were dead," Nero said quietly.

"Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. I've actually spent the last ten years or so in an insane asylum. Thanks for the help getting me out of there, by the way. Joking! Goodness, it's a thing called _sarcasm_. It seems that you never caught on to that. Anyhow, I managed to get out of that horrendous program relatively unscathed, and stayed in a mental hospital for a while after the good old United States government caught me for embezzlement. Aquarius itself has been after me for years now, and I figured HIVE was safe if you were still in charge," she replied.

"Max, you know her?" Raven asked skeptically.

"I thought I was the only one who ever called you Max," Vienna laughed, "When did _this_ happen?"

"This did not _'happen'_, Vienna," Nero told her, "and yes, Natalia, You may release her. I am confident enough that she will not attack me." Raven untied her as Nero asked, "How did you survive though? I – we held a funeral for you and everything. We just figured they never found the body."

"Simple explosions can't kill lucky number Thirteen. I got out of there just fine, and so did most of the top Aquarius brass, unfortunately. Their mission now is to hunt down the thirteen of us that were left."

"I am very aware that they're hunting the subjects down. They had One, Two, Four, Six and Eight the last time we hacked into their systems. They think Nine is somewhere in Japan, but the rest of them are so far unaccounted for."

"Umm, a little explanation, please, Max?" Raven asked. "What exactly is this Aquarius Project?"

"The Aquarius Project was started by a rogue villainous organization, the Society of Atrocious Persons, called SOAP. They wanted to manufacture child fighters, mercenaries to do their bidding so they could take over organizations like HOPE and GLOVE. The managed to adopt fifteen one-year old orphans and began to train them in the Alps. They used them to kill presidents and rob billionaires, even to take over countries' governments in secret. It was really just a very concentrated HIVE, where they made the best and brightest. When GLOVE attacked them, their students scattered. Fourteen and Fifteen were confirmed dead, and now some of the others are back in their clutches. Once they collect all thirteen again, they think that they can take over GLOVE," Nero explained, "But you're wondering where we fit into this, I'm sure. HIVE was their first target when they tried to take over GLOVE and failed. We will, again, be their first target when they try again. If they have HIVE, they have all sorts of young, moldable minds available to them. Their main goal, simply enough, is to take over the world and give all of the power to their leader, whom they just call 'the Director'."

Vienna, obviously annoyed that she hadn't been allowed to speak for a full five minutes, added, "You're forgetting something, _Twelve_."

"Yes, Vienna, I'm saving the most startling part for last. Natalia, **I** am Subject Twelve."


	5. Chapter 5

"Wait, what?"

"Where did you think I got my training, Natalya?" Nero asked, "Surely not the military?"

"Okay, what the heck is this project? Why was all of this done? How did all of you escape? Start at the beginning, will you? I'm the only one in this office who is missing a huge piece of this back story," Raven complained. "Why did I never know this?"

_A girl glared up at the figures in gray, crouched on the mat of a training room. Others clad in black sat on a bench, watching and waiting. They would all watch each other, critiquing their performances and commenting on every move while doctors in lab coats checked monitors and watched the subject in the training room, all safely behind a pane of bulletproof glass. _

_The girl knew that the last subject had taken out all of the grey figures relatively quickly. She didn't look at the time posted on the board, but she knew that she had to beat it. He had done well, but she would do better. "Subject Thirteen, are you ready?" a voice asked over a cracking loudspeaker._

"_Like Hell I am," she growled, waiting for the signal. A green light went on and all chatter on the bench stopped. Everyone trained their eyes on number 13, watching as she managed to hit the red buttons on all five of the gray figures in two minutes and four seconds. _

_With a sneer, she strode confidently over to the bench, where the other subjects sat. "That was great," whispered the dark-haired boy next to her, "I got two-sixteen. You're up near the top of the scoreboard." She looked down her nose at him harshly. The subjects rarely talked in training, and formed their own groups when they were not in the training rooms. "I'm Max. Err, Subject Twelve," he said._

"_I know. Maximilian Nero, birthday in a month, Subject Twelve, most recent time score of two-sixteen," replied the girl, "I'm Vienna. Subject Thirteen." _

"_Alright, well done, everyone," Dr. Mitchell walked up in front of them, holding her clipboard. She was the head of the observation and nutrition part of the program, while another doctor took care of genetic engineering and tweaking the program to fit each subject. The Sensei actually trained them and the Director… well, no one had ever seen the Director, but he or she funded the project and watched everything from cameras mounted all over the building and enclosed courtyard. "Okay, we want to cut five seconds from these times within a week. We're going on to the obstacle course next, so if you will follow me…"_

_She led them to another room, much like the obstacle course at HIVE, though HIVE was not established. "Subject One, please stand at the starting line. The rest of you, take the bench. You all know what to do." Subject One, a boy named Jason, took an aggressive stance at the starting line. They would progressively move down the line, the next subject always halfway nervous about running the course and halfway ready to beat everyone else, no matter how badly they were doing that way._

_They sat in number order, like they always did in training. "What is the point of all of this?" asked Max, aka Subject Twelve._

"_I have no idea," Vienna whispered, "Why are you talking to me? We're supposed to be critiquing him and watching for patterns to follow so we can get through the course quicker." She continued looking straight ahead, watching Jason go through the obstacles, nearly falling into the water as he failed to see a bar coming out of the wall._

"_Because you look like you've been asking yourself the same question."_

"So you began plotting a rebellion?" Raven asked at that point.

"Not right away, but we had the idea of a rebellion forming right then."

"I think I'm still missing something," Raven said.

"You're missing a lot. Keep talking, Twelve," Vienna laughed.


	6. Chapter 6

_Three days later, one of the training rooms was filled with the subjects, the Sensei leading them through exercises before they divided into tactical groups, which would soon become their mission teams. As always, a group of doctors and scientists stood watching. They soon split up into three groups, two of four and one of five. _

_Team Three assembled in their corner. Jason, Subject One, and Walden, Subject Seven, took control of Teams One and two, but Team Three did not have a clear leader. It consisted of Subjects Ten to Thirteen, and seemed to be the most effective team despite their lack of a leader. The team members ranged in age and didn't look very similar, but they could take out a country if they were asked to. "Okay, here's today's mission folder," said Subject Ten, a girl named Aika. She passed out papers to the other three, scanning her own over. "Seems pretty easy. We need to split up, and when we get into the ductwork, go different ways. Watch the laser patterns, and I'll give a signal when it's time to move in. Max, Vienna, go right. We'll go left. Got it?" They all nodded, waiting for Team One to go into the simulator. _

_Team One accomplished their mission in ten minutes and fifty five seconds. Team Two was entering the simulator as Team One was walking out, a few of them with burns and charred eyebrows. During simulation training, the teams were not allowed to watch each other. They needed to know how to do things without watching the other teams, especially now. They would be going out on their first real-world missions in a little over a month. _

"Is all of this necessary?" Raven asked impatiently.

"Yes. Listen," Nero instructed.

_Team Two finished in nine minutes and a second. Team Three nodded to each other, walking to the simulator room as the other team took their spots on the bench. They split up, listening to the loud countdown. When they first started simulation training, they often set off a blaring alarm by touching lasers carelessly, but now they rarely did. No team failed now, not when the real missions were so close. Failure meant extreme punishment, especially now. Max and Vienna took to the right side of the ductwork, not waiting to see the other two head to the left. When Aika gave the signal, they dropped down into the room below, Max helping Vienna down. _

_They scanned the room once more, ducking lasers every three seconds. Vienna cast a glance around, watching the others. Diabolus was-_

"Darkdoom was involved? He was Subject Eleven?" Raven asked. She received no answer.

_Diabolus was looking ready to jump, but his timing looked off. Vienna shook her head almost imperceptibly and he relaxed, ducking the laser sweep that he would have jumped right into. Vienna, on the other hand, rolled onto the floor, jumping up in front of the pedestal that held the briefcase they were supposed to be retrieving. The team scrambled into the air ducts again, narrowly missing a final laser sweep. They dropped into the hallway in front of the others waiting on the bench. Dr. Crane was waiting for them. "Very good, Vienna. You most definitely have some talent," he said, "You accomplished that in six minutes and forty seconds."_

"What ever happened to good old Dr. Crane?" Nero asked Vienna, stopping his story suddenly.

"He just happened to crash his Maserati into an oak tree after the brakes failed on his way home from his mistress's apartment. I swear I had nothing to do with removing the brakes," Vienna said, trying to keep a straight face.

_The teams headed back to their "common room", the large room that contained televisions, gaming systems and the like that led off to their (numbered) bedrooms. Team Three sat down to go over their mission, overall agreeing that it went very well, although not totally according to plan. They decided that they were practically ready for a real mission, whatever it may be. Then they split up. Vienna headed for her room and a shower before dinner was served, Max following her down the hallway to his room, which was next to hers'. "You're gorgeous," he blurted out as she scanned her fingerprint to open her door._

"_Excuse me?"_

"_You heard me."_

"_You've been watching me watching you, haven't you?" Vienna asked, "Well-_

"So you ended up going out?" Raven interjected a question.

"Yes," Vienna answered, "and it was all downhill from there."


	7. Chapter 7

_Late every night, Team Three met up in room 13. From one sheet of paper sprang two, then three and so on, laying out plans. They each would spend hours in the library, pretending to be researching things for their academic stories, but in reality, they were copying down charts and graphs related to the facility. They had all caught the rebellion bug. The Aquarius Project was going to come down, and Team Three was going to start is fall. _

_They would end up breaking meetings up after two hours or so, the latest lasting until two in the morning. Max would invariably stay, helping Vienna put away papers and hide documents that they wanted to keep away from the authorities, stalling as long as he could before Vienna kicked him out and told him that they had training the next morning. _

"Okay, let's skip ahead to the actual overthrowing, please," Raven stopped the story. "I don't want to hear about all of this."

_Late one night, Team Three held a meeting with all of the other subjects. All of them agreed that they were being held for no reason, and that they were willing to help each other escape. Something had to be done before they were forced out and unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. _ _They planned to all sneak out in two weeks, and there would be nearly all-night meetings until then. The rest of the subjects needed to be brought up to speed, and they needed to start stealing a deadly cocktail of chemicals from the laboratories and classrooms._

_Team One would start stealing the next day, and Team Two would start undermining the security of the system. Team three would be the brains behind the whole project, spearheading the effort to get everyone out of there. One night, after a meeting, Max hugged Vienna, giving her a rose as he left. She had no idea where it had come from, since the gardens in the buildings only grew vegetables, and the only way out was through the front gate. _

At this point, Vienna interrupted, taking over the story.

_She closed the door, looking at the clock and yawning. She picked up the rose, twirled it in her hand and watched as it turned into gray ash. She jumped back, looking at her hands. "What the…?" Nervously, she swept up the dust and put it in her garbage can. She approached the small window near her bed, where a plant sat in a pot. She looked at it, seeing that it was green and alive. Hesitantly, she touched it. Immediately, it withered and turned brown, crumbling into the dirt._

_She ran next door, knocking quietly but frantically. Max opened the door with a smile as she rushed in, shutting the door behind her. Careful not to touch him, she sat down in his desk chair. "Max, I just killed that rose."_

"_It was dead when I gave it to you."_

"_No, it turned into dust. And it happened with another plant too," she said, sounding seriously afraid._

_Max's face changed as he said, "Try the plant at the window…"_

_She did, and he watched as it turned black and crumbled, cringing when he reached for her arm, although he didn't die like the plants had. "Vienna, I think they've been experimenting on you. They've given you the power of… well, of death." _


	8. Chapter 8

"Well, the power that I discovered had come from the labs. Apparently the genetic engineer, Dr. Crane, was running experiments on some of us that we didn't know about. They actually came in handy when we made our attempt to escape. To make a long story short, the night of the new moon, when everything was dark, we had Team one override the security systems and let us all out. We got out of the gates relatively okay, but I had to kill two of the guards. Alarms started going off after a few minutes, and we were well away by that time, so we detonated the building. It had a mechanism that would allow for the immediate detonation of the ammunition stockpile, so we wired it up to a rudimentary remote and worked from there. We all pretty much ended up going our separate ways after the sun came up and we had nearly reached the end of the forest. We were safer in groups of two or three, and they eventually all split up. We've been running ever since," Vienna explained.

"A lot of the subjects have changed. Some of them are dead, and others are still on the run. I know for a fact that one of them went through several witness protection programs and is now living under an alias that he procured as another alias, all while running one of the largest banking firms in the world," Nero said, "And with that, this leads us to the question of what we ought to do with you, Vienna. We can't let you go, since you've come to HIVE for help in the first place. What options do we really have? Hmm…"

"Send her in to help the Colonel teach. If she's as good as she says that she is, then she can help him. Or just set her up doing hand-to-hand combat. We have way too many people to train and not enough people to teach," Raven contributed.

"Well, if you agree to that, then you can stay at HIVE, at least as long as it is safe here," Nero offered.

"I'll try not to kill very many of your students," she replied, "I'll take your offer, but remember, all of us have changed, and I'm not as forgiving as I was before. There are only so many times you can mess up before I reach my limit with you. With anyone."

"You will control yourself and not kill any of my students, no matter how exasperating they are being. I am not going to take that," Nero told her, suddenly becoming stern. "Raven will find you your quarters, most likely with the Alphas for now. Dinner will be served soon, and I guess I'll have to introduce you. But this is your first and final warning: you are not allowed to hurt others here. It's not like it was in the Aquarius Project, and when you're fighting, you're not fighting for your life. Not anymore. You will be cordial to people and willing to work with them, no matter how stupid they seem to be. Or are. And you will **not** maim my students on purpose."

As she walked out, Vienna was muttering, "I can fake accidents then."


	9. Chapter 9

Otto, Wing, Laura, Shelby, Franz and Nigel had been assigned to Training Room B in the afternoon. Their first class with the new instructor. To tell the truth, she scared a lot of them. She hadn't said much when Nero introduced her, but Wing could tell right away that you did not cross this woman. If you did, you would end up in a hospital bed if you were lucky.

"Well, we're all here, aren't we? I only have six of you to begin with," Vienna said, coming out of the shadow that she had been lurking in. "One of you brave souls – well, I guess I should tell you why you're here in the first place. No, I have not been assigned a small group because I am inept. Rather, out of your whole year, you six have the most potential, I am told, so you will be trained separately. I will begin to teach you unarmed combat, but I will also be teaching anything the inept professors here do not cover to the subject's full extent. My rules are basic. There will be one warning and one warning only for anything and everything. Homework, tests, and discipline too. I do not believe in sending students to the administration or giving detentions, but I have been told that I am not allowed to harm any of you on purpose. Pity, I know. So my detentions will be hell, and that's a promise. Questions? No? Okay, let's get started. Pair up." She gave them a second before continuing, "I need to gauge where you are before I can teach you anything. You two," she pointed to Otto and Wing, "will go first. The rest of you will watch. Pay attention, because sometime during the year, you will be facing every one of the others. Learn their weaknesses from the start and you will have the up[per hand. Ready boys? You're aiming to get the other in a position where you could easily kill them unarmed, but please, no killing. I'm not allowed any bodies. Go."

Otto looked at Wing, who did not hesitate to attack him. Within a few seconds, Wing had pinned him down and Vienna had called him off. "Very good, Mr. Fanchu. Malpense, if you had not stood there like a deer in the headlights, perhaps we would have seen more of a fight. Girls, you're up."

Shelby and Laura managed to fight longer, but it was Shelby who came out with a win, having stopped Laura mid-roll by springing out of the stance that she was starting to take. Vienna nodded her approval. "I will be keeping track of your wins, by the way. There will be some sort of prize at the end of the year for the person who wins the most fights. Next."

Franz ended up almost squashing Nigel, having circled him unsurely for almost a full minute before Nigel tried to roll down to avoid a punch and take out Franz's feet on the way. All Franz had to do was sit down and he had won. "Can't… breathe…" Nigel managed.

"Well, that certainly was… interesting," Vienna told them once they had all sat down. "I can see some clear leaders here, which is a good thing. We need to bring up the end of the spectrum though. By the end of this year, I want all of you to be fully trained, trained well enough to take out, oh, I don't know, the Taliban, lets' say, with your bare hands." The students exchanged glances as Vienna continued, "I'm going to give you a bit of a break. I will be putting maps up on the projector and I want you to memorize them. We'll start with something simple, and then build up to plans of real places, like the Pentagon and the MI6 headquarters. I'm going to assume that this will be Malpense's specialty, but the rest of you will be expected to keep up with him by the end of the year."

"I am not liking this idea," Franz said as Vienna put up the first picture, leaving it there for a minute before asking where the best air duct on the outside of the building was for infiltration. "Behind the bushes?" Franz asked. He received a nod of approval, a sign that they would all soon see was one of the highest forms of praise in that room.

"Once inside, if we went through the bushes as proposed, what would be the quickest route to the laboratory, Trinity?"

"The quickest is a right and then through an office, but you could bypass a monitor in the duct and the inevitable cameras in the office if you went left and took the first right after that. It would be less hacking into the system and less of a chance that the hack would be noticed," Shelby said with her eyes closed, trying to visualize the map.

"Good. Your directions are a bit mixed up; it should be the second left. The first left would lead into another section of the building, but that was good for a first start."

As Vienna lowered the lights to put up another map, voices were heard in the hallway. There seemed to be several people out there, all of them talking loudly. She went to the door to yell at what was probably students skipping class, telling the six to wait a second. When she opened the door, there was a crowd of medical staff and a few teachers surrounding what looked like a body. "Pardon me, let me through," Nero said, running up to the group, "What the…" When the group parted, Vienna was able to see what they were standing around. There was a PolFi lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

"Stay here, all of you. Lock the door when I leave. This shouldn't be but a moment," Vienna instructed her class. She went over to the group, which wasn't far from her classroom.

"Looks like someone stabbed her with something, but I know all of the weapons are kept in the training rooms and are accounted for after every class," a nurse was saying, shaking her head.

"Not all of the weapons are in the classrooms," Nero said, "We have hidden arsenals here, in case we are attacked, but no one knows where they are, save a few trusted staff members, who have all been accounted for and have solid alibis already. Whoever did this, they know where these things are kept."

"Max," Vienna pointed, startling the people who had not noticed her there. "Look." The wall behind them was written on in blood: _**YOU'RE NOT SAFE, EVEN INSIDE THESE WALLS**_.


	10. Chapter 10

Vienna returned to the classroom as soon as the body had been taken away for further examination, and locked the door as an announcement buzzed everyone's Blackboxes, saying that the school was under lockdown until further notice and that classrooms were going to be searched. Marching to the front of the room, she explained, "None of you are supposed to know this, but they found a body in the hall, not far from here. If was a PolFi, and someone had murdered her. Whomever it is is still on the campus. So, for the next few hours, it seems, you have the pleasure of staying here. This does not mean I'm going to show a movie or anything. And no, Argentblum, before you ask, James Bond films do not count as 'class research'."

Someone knocked on the door, and Vienna opened it to find Nero and a search team. As the team combed the room for bloodstained weapons or anything else suspicious, Nero pulled Vienna aside. "I don't think this is a coincidence. A murder a few days after you've arrived… I know it wasn't you, and that's not what I mean, but I think someone here wants to send a clear message that they know what the Project is and know you were involved."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Watch your back. Have a gun next to you all of the time, and a knife to back that up. Don't let your Blackbox out of your sight, and don't go around alone too often," Nero advised. "You know I don't want you dead."

"Drop it, Max. the past is the past, and you, of all people, should know about burning bridges. Now I have a class to teach, thank you very much, and I would like to get the most benefit out of the time that we're stuck here. Goodbye."

"Rejected!" Otto whispered to the rest of the group, who were milling in a corner while the room was being searched.

"I heard that, Malpense," Vienna said as she locked the door behind the search team, "Take your seats again, please. We have a lot to do, and why not make the most of the time we're stuck here. Knowing Max's – Nero's – policies, the search team won't be done until well past dinner time [this news elicited a frown from Franz]. Now, will one of you gentlemen sitting near the cabinets please take out a pair of night vision goggles for everyone and hand them out?"

She killed the lights once they all had their glasses on, all of them remarking that they were so cool and everything looked different in the dark and why didn't these have lights on them like the ones you see everywhere else? "If they had lights on them, then people would be able to see you trying to sneak around in the dark. What's the point of being cloaked in darkness if everyone is wondering why there's a glowing light coming from the shaft over there?"

"Are we going to be sneaking around the school at night?" Wing asked.

"We could perpetrate a lot of mischief that way, but in light of the current situation, not for a while. We will, however, train with them in here, especially grappling, fighting, and general sneaking around in them. First off, I want each of you to come up here, just in the order that you are sitting, and sneak along the wall, drop into a shoulder roll, and then pretend to fire a gun. Yes, we will also be dealing with weapons while wearing these, so don't ask. Brand, you're up first."

Once they had all gone through the drill, Vienna turned on the lights and had them set up custom obstacle course. They would be tested on each one, first with the glasses and then without. "I am going to die," Franz griped as Laura moved a chair to add to a course. "My legs will become broken!"

"We're running them with the glasses first, and we will start as a class, then teams of three, then two, then individually. The course will change, but we will adapt to it, right?"

"I hope so."


	11. Chapter 11

By the time they went to dinner, they had gone through the course with night vision goggles as a class and in groups of three. The next day, they would tackle it in twos and on their own. Everyone was thankful to be leaving, but Vienna promised them that this was not the worst beating they would be taking in her class. Not by a long shot.

As everyone was eating, Nero stood up. "Boys and girls, to quell the rumors, we were locked down today for a reason. It was not a drill. A Political-Financial student was found dead near the training rooms, stabbed to death with a knife. The weapon itself was recovered, and I assure you that you are all quite safe here. However, from tonight onward, you will not be allowed to move in groups less than three, and the curfew will be moved to half an hour earlier. While this may inconvenience some of you, it is for your own safety. We are still investigating, but we as the staff would like you to know that you are very safe here at HIVE. That is, unless one of the Professor's experiments tries to destroy the school." This attempt at humor elicited a forced laugh from a few people, but the rest were silent.

Vienna stood up, and all eyes turned to her. No one interrupted Nero, especially not when he was addressing the whole school. "I've heard the rumors going around, and Max can vouch that I did not kill this student. However, I am trained in several types of martial arts and other forms of combat, and I will not hesitate to incapacitate anyone who I find to be attempting another murder. Believe me when I say I am better at reading people than most and I have better skills than most. As long as I am around, you are all very safe here."

After dinner, the students were ushered into their dormitories quickly, and the staff convened to talk over what had happened. It was decided that the killer was still there, and would probably try to strike again. Teachers were assigned hall duty 24/7 and were issued weapons.

It turned out that both Vienna and Nero were wrong. On the way to breakfast the next morning, a scream came from the Alpha's hallway. A first year boy was lying in the middle of the walkway, dressed like a deer. Not dressed, _field _dressed. As in cut open. The killer had left another message: _**I WILL GET YOU. AND IT WON'T BE THIS PRETTY. GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN, SUBJECTS.**_


	12. Chapter 12

Nero had called an emergency staff meeting while the students were on lockdown. There would be no school for the rest of the day, and students were to stay under strict supervision. The teachers had assembled in a conference room, while security was stationed near every common room.

"Someone is definitely trying to sabotage HIVE from the inside," Nero spoke from the head of the table. "Many years ago, a few key members of the villainous community were part of the Aquarius Project, something run by a rogue force that wanted to create a league of assassins for its own personal use. The Project was compromised and the Subjects escaped. Some of them went on to do great things. Others went on to become drug dealers and bank robbers. I believe the Project has come to HIVE looking for its participants and potential new material. They have been dormant for a long time, and I think this is their first attempt at starting back up again. We need to hunt down the mole and get them out of here before anything else happens." Nero paused when a guard came in the door looking distraught.

"Sir," the guard informed them all, "We just found a Henchman stabbed to death. He had never left his room, and it was locked from the inside."

"That's impossible," Nero shook his head. "If the door was locked from the inside, we have to rule out murder."

"You're wrong," Vienna spoke up from a corner of the table, "It means we can rule out all of the idio- uh, Henchmen. All of the Henchmen. We're dealing with someone who can get in and out of locked rooms easily. He or she obviously knows their way around HIVE, and they knew we were all going to be in a meeting now and the security would be a bit lower because of that. I think we're dealing with a genius. That wasn't suicide. If it was, where is the weapon?"

"You seem to know an awful lot about this," the Colonel chipped in. "It seems like you've given it some thought."

"You've all seen me. I've been here the whole time, and this bloke still managed to get killed. You can rule me out as a suspect," Vienna said. "And if any of the security force is smart enough, they would be searching for the murder weapon right about now. It isn't too easy to conceal a knife covered in blood when no students are supposed to be armed and movement is limited."

"Right, ma'am," the guard turned and headed out the door quickly.

All eyes were on Vienna as she motioned for Nero to continue speaking. "We need a plan of action. Something has to be done to secure the students. We cannot make them all sit for lie-detector tests, and we cannot drug all of them until someone confesses. It is very rare that I say this, but does anyone have any ideas? We have no time to lose. I've already had to tell two families that their children are dead, and now I have to inform a third. The murders need to stop."

"Give them what they want and be done with it. There is obviously something here that the murderer or murderers are looking for, so just give it to them. If it isn't top secret, we can afford to lose it," someone said.

"Unfortunately, we can't do that. You see, the Aquarius Project is looking for its original Subjects. I cannot hand myself over, and I am not giving Vienna to them either. No, there will be no objections or questions to that. Are there any other ideas?" This was met with a bit of shock, but the group seemed to accept it.

"You can always enact the Sleepwalker Protocol and search everyone. It will at least be a first step, and no murders can happen while the killer is asleep. It won't do any harm," Vienna chimed in.

"That's sensible enough. Raven, have the Sleepwalker Protocol activated."


	13. Chapter 13

The Sleepwalker Protocol was activated, and all but six Alpha students fell asleep at once. The group of six had been ruled out as suspects, and were assigned to helping Vienna search the buildings. They split up, Laura, Otto, Wing and Shelby heading down one corridor and Vienna, Nigel and Franz taking the other. Each of them had wireless headsets that allowed them to be in contact with the others, and they were given passes that would open all doors in the school. These would have to be returned, of course.

"Look at this," Laura said as they entered a Henchman dorm. "This place is a mess. How are we supposed to find a murder weapon here? Where do we even begin?"

"Think of some place you would hide a weapon, and don't look there. There are Henchmen we're dealing with now. If we were in the Alpha dorms, I'd expect a clever hiding place, but here we are," Wing told her as he began looking in trash cans.

They found noting that could incriminate anyone, but Otto ad insisted on pick pocketing the Henchmen, which Shelby objected to on the grounds that "Stealing from them now is too easy. You're supposed to do it when they're conscious." Unbeknownst to the others, Otto walked out of the dorms with a few candy bars and a couple of dollars that he had "found".

Vienna's group was having the same luck. The SciTech dorms were far cleaner than the Henchmen's, but there was nothing that would indicate a murderer. She had just checked in with Nero, telling him that they were heading for an Alpha dorm, when they ran into the other group. Both of them reporting that their findings were pretty boring, they continued on. Vienna reached the closest Alpha dorm, opening the door and letting Franz and Nigel in.

Looking at the bodies lying all over the place, it looked like they had stepped into the aftermath of a gas attack. Having fallen wherever they were at the time the Protocol was enacted, some of the Alphas had dropped things all over, one having spilled a soda all over the floor. "Well, that'll need cleaning," Vienna muttered. "Okay, les get to work. I'll take the girls' rooms; you two take the boys'. If you find anything, let me know. Send me a picture via Blackbox."

Vienna opened the last door on the girls' side. The room was pretty messy, something that she was used to. There were textbooks and papers strewn everywhere, and from the titles, she could gather that this girl was in her final year of studies at HIVE. She would be taking a lot of examinations soon, with a final mission at the end of the year. Vienna couldn't help but admire the organization of the girl who shared the room with the messy one. Her things were all in order, color coded and stacked all over the place. At least it looked like one of them would be passing their exams.

Looking closer, Vienna noticed that the blueprints the messy girl had were not of the training building for the final mission all of the last-years. They were plans of HIVE, with red _X_'s where students had been killed. There were green circles in other locations. Lists of weapons and how to get them were stapled to the backs of some of the blueprints. Now this was something interesting. Vienna started going through more of the papers, finding detailed plans for murders in the future. One of them was slated to have happened a half hour after the Sleepwalker Protocol had been enacted. The Protocol hadn't been accounted for, Vienna noted.

As she sifted through the dozens of notebooks and files the girl had collected (it must have taken her years to do all of the research involved!), Vienna kept noticing the seal of the Aquarius Project. So the girl was planted here. But how had she gotten through HIVE's ranks unnoticed?

While she was looking for a name on any of the papers, there was a sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. A girl with dark hair whipped open the door. "Oh hello," the girl smiled. "I guess you'll be next."


	14. Chapter 14

"You're Subject Thirteen. Aren't I lucky? I get to take out a Subject. Some of us never will have that joy," the girl was nearly hissing by now.

"Well, if you insist on killing me, just tell me one thing. Who are you?" Vienna stood up, raising her hands in surrender. There wasn't much she could do. She was cornered and had nothing but a Sleeper on her. The papers and books on the floor limited her movement, and there was no backup nearby. Really, who would have suspected an Alpha?

"My name is Jade. And I am Subject Fourteen. There are more of us, all over the world. We were sent to bring back the original thirteen Subjects, dead or alive. I hear the ones we bring back are killed anyway, so I just plan on killing you."

"So you were supposed to come in and eventually kill Max – Nero, and you found me too. And it's fortunate that you've caught me without weapons and stuck in a corner, isn't it?" Vienna asked. The girl nodded, blinking as Vienna sprang, tackling the girl and pinning her to the ground. "Unfortunately, you didn't think that I would do much unarmed and cornered." Within a few seconds, Vienna had the girl tied to her desk, and was calling for backup.

"This isn't over. It will never be over, Subject Thirteen. This won't be over until all of you are back with the Director. It won't be over until you're all dead."

"Lovely. Have fun in solitary," Vienna said, watching as a group of guards handcuffed Jade and marched her out of the door. Other guards came in to collect all of the evidence, and Vienna headed for the office, calling her six students and telling them that they had found their murderer. Nero congratulated her and announced to the staff that they had the killer in custody just as the students were beginning to wake up from the Sleepwalker Protocol.

The students were brought into the dining hall even though it was a few hours before dinner. Nero stood up and told them, "The murderer we have been looking for has been caught and is now in solitary confinement. You are all safe here at HIVE now that we have caught her. However, I would like to remind you that we all need to be on the lookout for anything strange. Don't hesitate to report things that you see that don't look quite right. We need to stop things like this before they start. There are enough people in this world with the intent to kill us. We do not need this threat from the inside."

Raven tapped Nero on the shoulder, stopping his speech. She whispered something, and he seemed to ask a question. Raven nodded, and Nero looked quite grim. "We are now in a state of lockdown. Students, you will remain here until you are dismissed. Anyone needing to use the restroom will use the ones off of this room. Teachers, we will be gathering in the conference room off of the nearest hall. She has escaped."


	15. Chapter 15

Shelby, Laura, Wing and Otto had found Nigel and Franz in the crowd of students milling around. They sat in a corner, whispering together about how it was possible for someone to escape from solitary confinement. "There is no way she's out of the school. She has a mission and she wants to complete it before she goes." Laura was adamant that this girl was lurking somewhere nearby.

"I say she escaped and got out while she could," Nigel told them, "if they catch her now, she isn't going to survive. Nero will have her executed. If she had stayed here, she probably would have been executed. After all, three people are dead now."

"Make that four," Wing came back from the line that had formed by the water fountains. "I just overheard a guard telling the Colonel that they had found another student in the hallway. Apparently she got them while the kid was on the way here. She's definitely here to stay, at least until she gets what she wants."

"Do you think she's going to keep killing people until Vienna and Nero hand themselves over?" Otto asked.

"Why would she want Vienna and Nero?" Shelby began to question him. "Where did you get that idea from?"

"Uh… let's just say that I totally did not ask HIVEmind to hack into the communications network that the teachers are all on," Otto told them. "And let's also say that I didn't find out that Nero and Vienna were part of a secret experiment a long time ago and the experiment wants them back. And let's all also say that I don't know that the girl is here looking for them."

"Wow," Wing said, "You're such a credible person, Otto. I'm glad you aren't spying on me."

"Who says I'm not?" Otto laughed.

"I am thinking we are still being in danger," Franz said, "But I am also thinking they are giving out snacks." He got up, heading for the snack line that was forming by the doors to the kitchen. It looked like they would be there well past dinner while the school was being secured.

"Excuse me," Vienna said, waiting for the hall to fall silent as she looked around from the teachers' table. "I've been sent to give you all an announcement, so listen up. The staff has decided that you will be remaining here until they either catch the killer or are 221% sure that she is not in the school anymore. What does that mean? Given that a lot of the staff will be here guarding and supervising you, it may take a while. Needless to say, classes will be cancelled tomorrow, since we will all need a day off. Hurrah, I know. Anyways, you may be here for a while. Meals will be distributed when it's time for dinner. Let's all just hope we don't have to stay here all night, because I would be stuck with you."

Dinner time came and went, and the lockdown had not been lifted. Plates had been cleared away, and it was rumored that they would be showing a movie. Nero confirmed this, saying that the building was not clear yet. Popcorn would be out soon. There was still hope that the students could return to their dormitories by curfew, but rumors were quickly dispelling that.

At ten, Vienna took a microphone and announced that they would remain under lockdown conditions at least until the next morning. "I know you all hate it, but at least we will be showing a few more movies. Sleeping bags are going to be distributed, but we will be playing movies on caption mode all night for the entertainment of those of you who go to bed ten minutes before its time for breakfast and those of you who do your sleeping in class. The staff would like me to tell you that you're perfectly safe in here, and that they are currently still combing the buildings for the killer. We'll be fine, relax, yada yada yada. Just don't go out and get yourselves killed, okay?"

"I can't believe this," Shelby said when Vienna started heading for the back of the hall, where sleeping bags were being handed out. "They can't find her? Really, aren't they supposed to be the best of the best? Why can't they find her?"

"She doesn't want to be found," Otto said. "HIVEmind says that they're probably missing her. She might be going to the buildings they just checked and hiding out there."

"Shh! The movie is starting," Franz told them, sitting down with a bag of popcorn.

On the screen, a face appeared. "Well, well, well. Subjects, turn yourselves in. I am on my way back to the Director, who will be very unhappy that I do not have you. All of your students will suffer if you do not turn yourselves in. From this moment, you have forty-eight hours." The screen went black. Someone screamed.


	16. Chapter 16

The Director was not pleased. Not only had the Project's best agent failed to bring back her targets, time was wasted and now Nero knew something was up. Jade and her team were told to get ready for a full-frontal attack on HIVE as soon as possible. There would be no mistakes this time.

Jade and the five subjects after her were the Project's "second generation", all of them trained after the first group had escaped. They were trained to be superior to the first group in every way, and there was no room for mistakes. Jade had been appointed their leader, and up until this point, she and her team had been successful on every mission they had been sent on. They had killed several Subjects, and they were on their way to capturing a few more when word had been received that there were now two at HIVE.

The Director had sent Jade out immediately, and she had infiltrated HIVE with no problems. However, she had killed a few people to send a message, something that was not part of the plan. When she was captured, she had managed to escape and get back to the underground base that housed the new Aquarius Project. Her team was to go back to the school and bring back the two Subjects there, dead or alive.

This, of course, Jade had to announce to her team. They took it well, getting their battle gear together in silence. "There is no way we're leaving without them, dead or alive. If all of us are killed, we're taking them with," she said, ending her speech as they got onto a shroud-like stealth vehicle. The team was more than capable, and HIVE didn't stand a chance. This time there would be full-scale destruction. And no survivors.

The HIVE students had been sent back to their dormitories after the building had been cleared. The teachers were still anxious, and security was doubled. Nero had announced that classes would be cancelled for two days while the staff decided how it would be best to proceed. "There is some form of danger out there. It's only a matter of time before they come back, and I want all of us to be prepared," Nero told the staff, "That means we need to take extra precautions. I've notified a few GLOVE members who are willing to help us with security and monitoring the premises, but it really is up to all of us."

"I think getting GLOVE too involved may be dangerous," came a voice. Diabolus Darkdoom stepped into the room. "They funded part of the Aquarius Project in the first place, and it generated a lot of money for them. The Director and Number One were in cohorts for a while, but the Project separated from GLOVE when they disagreed over something about how the Subjects would be used for international crime. Dragging GLOVE and Number One back into this doesn't sound like a very good idea."

"Definitely not," Raven agreed. "I really don't feel like dealing with GLOVE and their security. What if they turn on us? There will be almost no way to stop them if they do, and I don't want to be bothered."

"So we don't get them involved at first. If we start losing too badly, we call them in," Vienna said. "We appeal to Number One if and only if we're about to be taken over. That way they won't be too involved, and what they don't know won't hurt them."

"You're forgetting that almost losing means almost being taken over and having a bunch of students and faculty die in the process," Nero told them. "If we involve GLOVE, we may be in trouble, but if we don't, then we may be in trouble. We lose either way."

"Then call GLOVE. They wouldn't want to have to rebuild HIVE and retrain a bunch of agents, would they?"

"They might try to risk it."

"Call them. The worst thing that can happen is we all get killed," Vienna said sourly. "Get GLOVE involved, fight until the Project is dismantled, and then be done with it."

"The worst thing that can happen is we start a war that bleeds over into the normal population and we end up killing most of the people on the planet," Mrs. Leon mewed. "We cannot do that. There has to be a way…"

"For now, we go on with school and everything else like normal. Behind closed doors, we will get HIVE ready to fight. I will contact Number One soon. This means that for now, we do not discuss impending events with the students, and make them believe that everything has gone back to normal, with this being an isolated event and a slight hiccup in normal procedures. Is that clear?" Nero asked.

Everyone nodded their agreement, and the group soon disbanded, leaving only a few people behind in the conference room. "I hope you know that I'll be arming my students no matter what you say, Max," Vienna told him as she headed out the door. "There is no way I'm going back to that Hellhole alive."


	17. Chapter 17

"What are we doing up this early?" Shelby yawned as she stood at attention in the training room that Vienna had commandeered. "Why are we working when we aren't supposed to be in classes?"

"Good morning, everyone," Vienna said as the clock on the wall behind her struck six AM. "You are here for a very good reason. Soon enough, all of us will be fighting for our lives. Sit down, I know you're all tired and this will be a long story if you all ask questions like I know you will." She waited for them to be seated before she continued. "Years ago, there was something called the Aquarius Project. It was partially funded by GLOVE, and its mission was to create a bunch of warriors to destabilize governments and basically do everything the Director wanted them to do. The Subjects of the experimental project rebelled, and they managed to run away and hide all over the planet. Six of them are still alive, and I know where three of them are. The Project has since created six more warriors to go after the original ones and bring them back, dead or alive. These new six will, in all likelihood, be coming to HIVE very soon to retrieve a few of the Subjects. Yes, Franz?"

"Who are the Subjects at HIVE?" he asked, looking concerned that he might be one of them.

"Nero and I. another one, Diabolus Darkdoom, is currently visiting us and helping with security." Nigel gasped as Vienna clarified, "I bet he never told you that, and for good reason. The Subjects are some of the most wanted people on earth, and if they were ever captured or betrayed, they would end up dying very soon after. Anyone who knows about them can be used as leverage against hem, which is why so few people know about them in the first place. That is also why, after this conversation, none of you will talk about what you have learned today, not even amongst yourselves. Is that correct?"

"Yes ma'am," they responded, hoping to avoid further scorn.

"We don't know how much time we have before the Aquarius Project's new team arrives. However, we need to train you to recognize them. We will be fighting a very secret war against some very good opponents, and you need to be prepared." She flashed pictures that had been gathered of the new team on the board. "Jade is their leader. She's also the most dangerous. Mark is second in command and is a brilliant strategist. Colin is a weaker one, and I personally think he can be convinced onto our side. From what we know of him, we don't think his loyalties lie completely with the Project. Katerina has a skill with knives, so be careful of her. Carrie has a love for violent, bloody deaths, so you don't want to run into her in a dark hallway. Victor, Subject Nineteen, is not the brightest. He would most definitely be a Henchman, but he's still strong and capable of fighting well without weapons, even if he doesn't' have much of a brain. Memorize these faces. Your lives may depend on it."

"If they're so good, how do you expect us to kill them? I mean, one of them's escaped capture before, so we have to kill them, right?" Laura asked.

"The only way to kill them is to beat them. Some of them will be easier to outwit and trap, but others will take all of us working together, and even then they'll only be killed if we're lucky," Vienna said, handing out backpacks. "These should have all the weapons you'll need in them. Get used to carrying these bags with you, and familiarize yourself with the locations of all of the weapons in them. From now on, you need to have these with you at all times, just like your Blackboxes."

"Why don't you just turn yourselves in and then kill everyone from inside the building?" Otto asked, "Wouldn't that be better than risking all of HIVE in the process?"

"In theory, yes, but two of us against all of them isn't much of a fair fight, is it?" Vienna asked. "Anyway, be on guard at all times, and be aware of your surroundings. If we are not in class when they arrive, I will notify you by Blackbox, so keep an eye open for any new messages. Any other questions?"

"Then why doesn't HIVE just bomb their compound and be done with it?"

"They have various bases all over the world. The main one has been located, but we've lost it. They seem to be highly mobile," Vienna confessed, "we don't really know where they are from day to day. We need an agent on the inside, but that would be nearly impossible."

"One more thing," Wing said, "How do you know so much about the people who may be invading HIVE if we can't track them?"

"That one I can answer. I trained them," Vienna said.


	18. Chapter 18

"You WHAT?!" the class gasped.

"I trained them," Vienna repeated. "A few years ago, I was hired by an agency that I thought to be reputable at the time. Every night, I was to break out of the asylum that I was in and show up at a nearby air base. There I was to train six recruits in unarmed combat. I was told they were an elite team being trained by MI6, but they turned out to be from the Aquarius Project. I trained them for nearly three years before I made my escape from the asylum and saw that the very students I had trained were coming after me."

"And you never questioned it once? The fact that you were hired to break out of a mental institution every night and train people in unarmed combat? That seems a little sketchy to me," Shelby said.

"You would have done the same if you were in my place," Vienna assured her. "A chance to get out of the holding cell you were in for the past seven years? A chance to finally fight like you had been brought up fighting? And the offer of a million dollars a year? It was too much to pass up. Like I said, it was the government that contacted me, or so I had thought."

"I can't believe you could have killed them all and never did," Nigel muttered, "That would have saved us a lot of trouble and a few lives too."

"Nero knows, I assume?" Otto asked, "Or did he hire you without knowing you had trained the very people who would infiltrate his school and kill his students?"

"Nero knows everything about me," Vienna said. "I wouldn't doubt he knew that too. He kept track of all of the Subjects as best he could, but recently they've mostly all gone off of the grid. There are three left that we have to locate before the Project does."

Otto was about to ask something else when an explosion rocked the building. Vienna didn't hesitate. "Let's go! They're here!" Grabbing a katana sword form the wall, she bolted for the door as another explosion crumbled the training room's rear wall. Seeing no alternative, the students grabbed their weapons and followed, putting on headsets as they raced for the door.

"Can you all hear me?" Vienna whispered, testing her headset as she surveyed the damaged hallway, which was now teeming with students rushing for the dining hall, the appointed meeting spot for emergencies. The six answered affirmatively. "Good. Head for Nero's office. We need to hold a war council."

"That won't be necessary," a voice said over their headsets. "I can hear and see all of you as it is. Follow the guards down to their vehicle. It seems they've crashed into a PolFi dorm and are staking out a claim there. Infiltrate their vehicle and get what information you can," Nero told them. He appeared behind them wearing a headset identical to the groups'. "I'm going to help the guards. You get into their files. You've always been better at stealth, Vienna. Keep the team safe."

"I'll try," she said. Nero looked as if he was going to say something more, decided against it, and took off in the opposite direction. "Okay team, let's go."

"What was that?" Shelby asked Laura over a different frequency, "That was one awkward exchange. I bet they have an interesting history."

"Why yes we do, but now's not the time for a history lesson, Trinity," Vienna said. "I can hear you no matter what frequency you use. It's one of the benefits to having the master headset."

"Sorry, I was just saying…"

"I was just saying that we need the team on one frequency for the sake of the others," Vienna said sternly, "on an infiltration mission, we all need to be on the same page. We need to get in there and find whatever information we can on the Project while the guards keep the new team distracted. That means working as quickly as possible. Boys, head for the front entrance of their Shroud thing. Girls, come with me. We're taking the trapdoor route."

Vienna led Shelby and Laura past the main fight, which was going on in front of the crash landed airship. They snuck down a hallway that was deserted, following it until they came to a door that opened up behind the enemy's ship. "When we go through this door, we'll be at a safe distance to drop down and open the trap door on top of their Shroud. Once we're inside, hook your Blackboxes up to their computer and download everything you can. Don't bother sorting through it, just get the information. I'm going to see if they have any paper files. When we're done, you'll each find a charge in your backpacks. It's C4. Mold it over the computers, and we'll set it off as soon as we're all a safe distance from it."

They nodded resolutely, dropping down onto the top of the Shroud after Vienna landed safely. From there they could see the battle going on below. Otto, Wing, Franz and Nigel were doing fairly well. At least they were all still alive. The guards had their hands full with the six that had come in on the Shroud. Nero and a few teachers had joined in the fight as well. No one had died yet, and the HIVE side seemed determined that the first body would not be one of their own.

Vienna wrenched open the door, holding it open for the girls and slamming it when they had all dropped into the ship. What they saw was amazing. There was only one computer, which seemed to be a control board for the whole craft. The rest of it was made up of couches, mini-fridges, and television screens. There was even a billiards table. "Much better than our Shrouds," Laura commented as she plugged her Blackbox into the computer and began to download data. "But it doesn't make sense. Where are their weapons?"

Vienna began searching for files, papers, anything that they could use to their advantage. Laura called her over at one point, saying that the one document she had just downloaded said that there was a powerful bomb onboard. "I'll find it. You girls keep looking. No, Shelby, help me. Laura, you've got this."

"Aye," Laura nodded, her fingers flying over the keyboard as Shelby got up and started to help Vienna. "I've got all of it. Found anything yet?" she asked a few minutes later.

"No," Shelby told her, watching as Vienna tore up the cushions of a chair and then slowly backed away. "Did you find something?"

"Yes. I've found the bomb." Vienna turned to face them. "The whole _ship_ is the bomb."


	19. Chapter 19

"Their ship is a bomb?" Shelby asked in awe.

"Yes," Vienna told them, "If what I've gathered is true, the whole thing has been wired to explode as soon as they type in a few lines of code. Needless to say, Laura, you're on that. We need to either find the code and rewrite it so it can't do anything, or write one that will counteract it. Shelby, stay here with her. I'm going out to see if they need any help."

Vienna left the code problem in Laura's capable hands and joined the battle outside. Although there were only six retrieval agents fighting masses of HIVE guards, the hall was a bloody mess. The agents were all still fighting, but a few HIVE fighters had been cast aside, either killed or temporarily disabled, Vienna couldn't tell. A knife went whizzing past her head and a shout of, "I've found one!" rang out. Katerina's doing, no doubt. Vienna grabbed a sleeper from the nearest guard, firing it behind her without looking. She ran, not waiting to hear the body crumple into a heap.

Wing and Otto had joined Nigel and Franz in trying to corner Colin, and they had done admirably. Indeed, he had been forced into a corner and was surveying his options as Vienna joined her students. "Don't kill me," he begged, her shadow covering his form, huddled in the corner. "Please don't kill me."

"What do you want, weakling?" Vienna adopted a cruel tone. "You've come here for Max, Diabolus and I, but what else? The whole retrieval team wouldn't have had to come just for the three of us. So you're all up to something, and it's something big. Spill it before I spill your intestines all over this hallway."

"Look, I don't know much about-" Vienna pressed a sword to his neck, watching beads of blood drip onto the concrete with a deadpanned expression. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you what I know. They came here for all of you, and then they got a call on the way from the Director saying that they wanted a crop of Alphas for the Project. It would take a lot less time than training kids from scratch, and ever since Dr. Crane died, they stopped genetically engineering people. They want as many Alphas as they can get. That's why they're all here."

"_They_, not **we**? Interesting choice of words, Colin." Vienna kept staring at him, seeming like she was glaring right into his soul. She didn't move the sword.

"I've seen what they're doing, and I don't like it. They think they can wipe your brain clean and reprogram you, but not always. They did it to all of them, but it didn't work on me."

"Spoken like the true computer geek you are," Vienna said, still not cracking a smile. "So what happens if something goes wrong?"

"We trigger the bomb in the craft, which takes out most of HIVE, or all of the ship once we're in the air. Can you please get that sword away from my artery?"

"Sorry, can't do that right now. You see, I still need leverage. You learned from the best, if I do say so myself, but the best will always best you. Now, as to your allegiance…"

"I swear I'll be on your side. I'm not big into senseless killing and the stuff the Project wants to do. There's a lot more that you don't see going on behind closed doors at the Project. A lot of it is GLOVE's funding. GLOVE is still funding the Project, did you know that? I've learned a lot from the computer networks they have set up. Please, I'll help you, I swear, just don't kill me," he begged.

"I won't," Vienna broke the silence that had been building. "Yet. However, your allegiance must be unwavering. If I find you have endangered us in any way, I will personally kill you. And it won't be an easy death, I can promise that much." She allowed him to stand up, secretly issuing a warning to all HIVE fighters that Colin was on their side and was to be left alone except to keep up the appearance of his loyalty to the Project. This was paramount: the Project had to see him as loyal for as long as possible if he was to be a successful double agent.

As the battle raged on, Vienna skirted the skirmishes that had filled the hall in order to find Nero. This she did relatively easily. Pulling him aside, she whispered, "Colin's on our side. He's a double agent now, and I will be personally responsible for him. I have a plan to take the Project down once and for all, but it may be widely unpopular."

"What is it? As long as we can save the students, I'm fine with it," Nero told her, glancing back out into the hallway at the battle.

"We're going to let ourselves get captured."

"How many of us?" Vienna was astounded that he hadn't outright said no.

"You, me, Diabolus, and my class. And Raven, if she wants to come along. That makes ten people."

"You're sure we can all escape? The students, at least?"

"Calculating the odds in my head, we have a chance that's just a little greater than a coin flip."

Five minutes later, the HIVE forces held their hands up in surrender. Ten minutes later, there were ten people strapped into chairs in the Aquarius Project's version of a shroud and heavily sedated so they would have no idea where they were going or how long the journey would take. Fifteen minutes later, Jade was joyfully calling the Director and reporting the successful capture of three Subjects and six Alphas, along with an assassin.


	20. Chapter 20

An unknown number of hours later, Vienna awoke in a white room. She immediately registered that she had been strapped to a chair. Her memory of the past day was fuzzy at best, but she knew that they had given themselves up for capture to avoid completely destroying HIVE. The stinging headache reminded her of a sleeper shot, but she ignored it. Nero was to her left, Raven to her right, and the rest of the prisoners forming a circle with them. A few of them had awoken already. Shelby was trying to break her restraints to no avail, Raven whispering that she had already tried and it was no use.

"Well, well, the Wraith cannot escape," sneered the Sensei, striding into the room. "Such a pity. I really did enjoy follow your exploits, Miss Trinity. And look, I've caught a bird. A Raven, and a dangerous one at that. Let's see, we also have… hmm, three of my most talented students. Vienna, dear, I haven't seen you in forever. You've let your skills slip, I see. And Diabolus, back from the dead! Maximilian, you've gotten old, I see."

"You've put on a few pounds there," Vienna spat. "Are your students not a challenge anymore? Or do you just spend more time in the buffet line?"

Franz perked up at the words "buffet line", but he soon saw that there would be no food for a while if Vienna kept running her mouth.

"Always had a way with words," the Sensei walked back over to Vienna's chair. "I can tell you'd love to fight it out. Why not? Nothing says welcome back like a nice duel." He gestured, and Vienna's bonds released her. "Jade? One of our guests would like to have the honor of fighting you."

Jade dropped down from the rafters, where she had been observing them. "That one? Teacher, it's good to see you again. However, I may not be seeing you after this."

"No killing, just fight to disable."

"Very well," Jade said, bowing.

Vienna didn't return the pleasantry. Now in the middle of the ring of chairs, she had already found thirteen distinct possibilities for how their fight would play out. Instead of bidding her opponent hello, she shoulder-rolled down and out of the way of a kick that nearly sent Jade flying off balance.

"Well, I may not have taught you anything at all, by the looks of that," Vienna laughed. "That's sad, you were one of the best."

"I am the best," Jade hissed, flipping over Vienna's unoccupied chair to launch herself at her opponent like a missile.

"I think not," Vienna grabbed her ankle midair, twisting it until she heard a satisfying _SNAP_. "I think I win." With that, she sat back down, allowing herself to be restrained again as Jade limped off to splint her leg.

"Very good," the Sensei commented, "I see you, at least, haven't lost your touch. Anyone else want to try?"

"What are we here for?" Otto asked, obviously unafraid of the man.

"You are here to become my students," the Sensei responded. "I will teach you to fight like Miss Jade can. Your adult friends, however, will serve their purpose and then be executed in the line of duty."

"What makes you think we won't execute you?" Shelby asked.

"Your handcuffs are currently feeding you a cocktail of drugs tailored to create perfect obedience. Once we take them off of you, you will continue to obey us and take more of these drugs, thus starting a cycle that you cannot escape. That goes for all of you."

"Lovely," Vienna commented, "But I don't think they're working."

"Oh really? Nero, where is HIVE located? I command you to tell me."

"On an island in the Pacific, approximately a hundred miles from-"

"I hardly think that's an act of obedience," Vienna interrupted. "After all, you already know where HIVE is. Obedience would be better demonstrated by acts."

"Alright, Darkdoom, when we release you, you will get up and kill your son." Nigel gave a squeak of fright, looking over at his father to see if he would do anything. The elder Darkdoom's manacles retracted, and sure enough, he stood up and slowly walked towards where Nigel sat. He clearly didn't want to obey, but something was stopping him from doing anything else.

As he was wrapping his hands around the whimpering boy's throat, Vienna yelled, "NO!" Darkdoom turned to face her, smiling at the fact that she had, at least temporarily, stopped him. "Stop. Now. Sit down. You love your son." Darkdoom obeyed.

"That's something new," the Sensei noted. "You'll just need a higher dosage, I'm sure. For now, though, you all should get acquainted with how things are run here. I am the only person you will obey. You will report all insubordination to me. Anyone found guilty of plotting a rebellion will be executed in front of the rest of you by one of you."


	21. Chapter 21

The sun had just set over New York City when a cat showed up at 122 West, an apartment in a high-rise building with a prime real estate location. It was a seemingly normal cat. It was exceptionally polite, knocking at the door and everything. When there was no response, it called in for backup. Three armed guards came into the hall, opening the door silently.

"What the Hell are you doing here?" a girl ran out of a room in the back of the apartment carrying what looked like a beaker of smoking white liquid. "I called in a little while ago, and Max was fine with this experiment. It was him, he authorized it. I am totally not selling this stuff on the black market."

"Sure, Echo." The guards blocked the door. "We need you. It seems that Max and some others have been kidnapped by the Aquarius Project, and you're the only one we know who can help us. Everyone else is still in hiding."

"But-"

"No buts. If you don't, all of HIVE will be taken over. And we'll turn you in to the police. I think they'd love to get their hands on New York City's biggest drug lord." This was true. Echo employed the talents that she had learned from the Project to making drugs and selling them all over New York City through a homeless network. It was easy. If HIVE trained people for world domination, Echo would have been right at home. After all, she essentially ran New York City.

"I'd be out of there in ten minutes tops."

"Not federal prison. And not if we put you there." The guards struck a hard bargain. "Or we could turn you over to the Mafia."

"The Mafia? Pleeeeease. They're about as scary as a couple of four-year-olds with toy guns. I run this city, and everyone in it answers to me."

"You may not run the city for much longer if you don't help us."

"Fine, I'm coming," she said, putting the beaker down on her countertop. "But I better be paid well for this. Give me a second to grab some weapons."

"Don't tell me you're bringing a bunch of drugs to sell to the Project people in hopes you can get them high enough to not notice their prisoners are missing," one of the guards laughed. He stopped laughing when Echo pressed a button below her countertop, which turned the wall where the television was mounted, revealing an arsenal that could be used to take on an army. All she was missing was a tank.

Echo grabbed a duffel bag, stuffed as many weapons as she could into it, and threw her lab coat on a chair. "Let's go," she told them, all business. "Where are we going?"

"We were hoping you knew where the Aquarius facilities are."

"One, I am higher than that shroud of yours could ever fly, two, I cannot fly that thing, and four, I stopped monitoring the Project a year or so ago."

The guards exchanged glances, and the cat, now known as Ms. Leon, followed them to the Shroud, which had been parked in front of the building. "Lucky thing is," she meowed, "the Blackboxes can be tracked. Diabolus is the only one without one. I think we can pick up a signal."

"Hold up," Echo said, picking up her phone and dialing an in-state number. "Henry? Is that you? Yeah, I need you guys to get together and look for a hideout. I think it's somewhere near here. At least it was the last time I checked. It's for something called – oh wait, it's classified. Anyway, call me if you find anything. There's a lot of money in it for you if any of the crew finds what I'm looking for. Got it?"

"What was that?" Ms. Leon asked.

"I have eyes all over the city," was Echo's mysterious response. "No one notices them. I bet you walked past some of them on your way to find me. If anyone can find this place, they can."

Ten minutes later, they were still circling the city when Echo's phone rang. "Hello? Great. Ten thousand for each of the three of you, to be paid upon my return to the apartment. Hang out there, but if you touch what's cooking in the back room, it'll be nothing."

"Homeless network?"

"1042 Downy Street," was all they got in response.


	22. Chapter 22

"Yep, we're getting out of here," Vienna said as soon as she was sure that they had been left alone. "Hold on a second." She expertly picked open her restraints, freeing Shelby next. "Let's get everyone freed and then we can find their launch bay."

"You seem to know a lot about this place. What's the plan?" Wing asked.

"Plan?" Vienna laughed, "I have no plan, Malpense. What I have is a knowledge of this place, a set of skills, a class and three others who are also highly skilled, and that's it. No plan involved. I don't need a plan."

"Right then," Raven said, jumping out of her chair as soon as she was set free. "We need – who's that?"

"I'm going to have to stop you," said Colin, walking out of the shadows. "You will need to be taken to the detention area." He dropped his voice until it was barely above a whisper. "Follow me. I can get you to the launch bay and into a stealth vehicle, but I can't do much more than that. I mean, I can't help you take this place over. Just follow me."

The group followed him out, some of them highly skeptical of his motives, Raven especially. She didn't like that they had just put their lives in the hands of a complete stranger, especially one who had trained under the revival of the Aquarius Project. However, it was the only thing they could do, as they had no chance if they decided to start a fight with the facility now.

"How do we know he isn't leading us to our deaths?" Nero whispered to Vienna, the two of them walking in the back of the group.

"I trust him, Max," she whispered back, "and besides, I know the facility inside and out, so I would know if we were headed to an execution chamber. He'd be dead already if that were the case."

"Your judgment is a little off," he said without looking at her, "Remember the last time you decided to trust someone with your life?"

_The four Subjects stood together in the woods watching the Aquarius Project's headquarters burn. That was their doing. They had been the core of a group that had decided to break out, and n0ow there were only seconds left in which to pick a direction._

"_West," said one, a girl whose face was lit up in the blaze. "I have contacts there."_

"_No you don't, Echo. Drug lords aren't safe house contacts. We need a place to hide out for a day or two before we split up. The rest of the Subjects have taken off in small groups and are planning on splitting as soon as they get to state lines," a bald boy told her._

"_We need to go north. There's more tree coverage that way, and I'm fairly decent at navigating," said another. "Trust me, we need to stick together for tonight, at least. We'll need a decent group if we have to put up a fight, but once we know we're in the clear, we're going to have to split up."_

"_Listen to Max," Vienna told them from the shadows. "North it is."_

"_Who put you in charge?"_

"_I trust him. Now let's go."_

That "I trust him" had led to a string of unfortunate events that had, presumably, gotten Echo killed and Diabolus separated from the other two, who ended up miles away from where they had originally intended.

"_They're after us, I can tell. Not only the Aquarius Project, but the police too. They knew we didn't pay for the stuff we took from that store and that our credit card was a fake. Let's go underground on the subway. Maybe we can lose them there."_

That had resulted in the near-destruction of the subway under New York City. The rest of the country had figured it was a terrorist attack, but…

"_They're not in this carriage," Vienna whispered, looking around, "But they have incendiaries all over the place. It looks like they've wired the whole system to blow up. Max, they want us dead." _

"_We can get out of here on the next stop."_

"_They have eyes on us," she told him, scanning their fellow passengers, "If we try to get off of here, they're going to set the whole place on fire."_

"_We'll be fine. I have a plan. Trust me."_

Yeah, that hadn't gone too well for anyone involved. Three people had ended up dead, and the bombing was all over the international news, with Nero and Vienna's faces plastered on wanted posters.

"We'll be fine," she told him. "Trust me."

The group reached the launch bay, and Colin opened the doors. "Take the last stealth ship on the left. It's camouflage shield should be the most equipped. Get out of here and move HIVE. Take my advice and don't try coming bacmhmhmhmhmh!" Something had put a hand over his mouth, dropping him to the floor before becoming more visible than a faint shimmer.

"Hello there," said Echo, "Thought you all would want a lift home."


End file.
